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Straw is the dried stalk of a cereal, as for instance barley, oats or wheat. Straw is sometimes used to create a woven cloth or as material for embroidery. 

A stitching awl, also known as a sewing awl, is a tool consisting of a thin, tapered metal shaft coming to a sharp point, either straight or slightly bent. The shaft is normally fastened to a wooden handle. It has an eye at the sharp pointed end, through which a thread is drawn.

Stained glass patchwork is a twentieth century form of patchwork, whereby areas of coloured cloth are separated by monochrome bands (such as in black), in imitation of stained glass windows.

Charles Germain de Saint Aubin (1721-1786) was a draughtsman and embroidery designer to King Louis XV (1710-1774) of France. His parents were Germain de Saint Aubin and Anne Boissay, both of whom were professional embroiderers. His paternal grandfather had moved from the countryside to Paris and had set up an embroidery atelier.

St. Luke (Luke the Evangelist) is one of the four evangelists or authors of the canonical four gospels of Jesus Christ (The New Testament). He lived in the first century AD and originated from the city of Antioch, Syria. He became the patron saint of artists, embroiderers, painters, tapestry makers, weavers, among other professions. According to the Roman Catholic calendar, his feast day is 18^th October.

Spanish work is a sixteenth century English term for blackwork embroidery, especially in the double running stitch (Holbein) form. The technique of blackwork embroidery was reputedly brough to England by Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. 

On 24th August 2006, the USA Postal Service issued a set of commemorative postage stamps with the theme of the Gee's Bend quilts. The 39c stamps depict ten designs that date from c. 1940 until 2001. The quilts were made by African-American women in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. The women from this town are well-known for the production of colourful and bold quilts, which were traditionally made of old garments.

A spangle (USA) is a flat, ornamental disc applied to cloth as a decoration. It can be made from metal, plastic, shell, etc., and is usually circular with a single hole. 

A spangle (UK) is a small, thin disc of metal with a hole in the middle. Spangles, in the UK meaning, are made by cutting a small segment (single winding) off a spirally wound metallic wire. This part is used to form a small ring that is then flattened between rollers or under a hammer. A characteristic feature of a spangle is a small indentation on the outer edge.